Idi Amin

“In any country there must be people who have to die. They are the sacrifices any nation has to make to achieve law and order.” -Idi Amin


Idi Amin, who was also known as the “Butcher of Uganda” due to his brutal rule while he was president of Uganda in the 1970s. Idi Amin is possibly the most well known of all Africa's dictators. Idi Amin was the president of Uganda from 1971-1979. He was also a military dictator that killed more than 500,000 Ugandan citizens. Idi Amin was began by being welcomed by both Uganda and by the world.


Idi Amin referred to himself as "His Excellency, President for life, field marshal, Al Hadji Doctor." Which explains a lot about his reign. Idi Amin's rule was not a pleasant one. It could be summed up in the words abusing basic human rights, political repression, ethnic persecution, extrajudicial killings, nepotism, corruption, and economic mismanagement. Idi Amin wasn't always a monster. He started out as just another young man, although somewhere between being a cook and becoming a dictator, something drastically changed.


Idi Amin had always been friendly with Israel and Britian, but in 1972 Idi Amin began attacking Israeli and British people, for no other reason then the fact that he didn’t like that they would not sell him weapons. Mu’ammar al-Qaddafi agreed to aid Idi Amin kill these people. With Mu’ammar al-Qaddafi’s help Idi Amin began forcing Israelis and fifty thousand Asian people out of Uganda.


Idi Amin’s policy was to stay in power at any cost. He would do anything to stay in control. Even if that meant killing people that opposed him. He used violence and terror to get rid of his enemies, whether they were real, or because of his paranoia, imaginary. There were several ways Idi Amin disposed of his opponents. Such as in 1971. Idi Amin became aware that Obote intended to arrest him based on charges of embezzling millions of dollars of military funds. While Obote was out of the country in January, Idi Amin had an idea that would take care of the Obote problem. Idi Amin was declared president and chief of the armed forces and almost right after he begins mass execution of troops he believed to be loyal to Obote.

Under Idi Amin’s rule, money and wealth had become more important than human life. Idi Amin used dehumanization to feel better about the fact that he was slaughtering his citizens. The human casualties of Idi Amin’s rule was extremely large. He killed thousands upon thousands of Ugandan citizens.


When citizens of Uganda and the world began to doubt Idi Amin and the way his rule was going he attacked Tanzania, a neighboring country to the south, in October. Tanzanian troops, as well as exiled and armed Ugandan citizens, put Amin's army to flight and in turn, ended up invading Uganda.

"Even Amin does not know how many people he has ordered to be executed... The country is littered with bodies."

-Henry Kyemba, Idi Amin's longtime friend and a former health minister.

In 1942 Irena Sendler joined Zegota, or the Council for Aid to Jews, in German-occupied Warsaw. She, along with twenty-five friends, were part of a plot to help Poland children escape from the Ghettos and into orphanages or Non-Jewish families that were willing to adopt them. Sendler would hide the children in suitcases full of clothes she was taking to orphanages. When sneaking out small children, she would give them drugs to keep them from crying and when she was sneaking out older children she would have them pretend to be sick and they would be taken away in ambulance. Although, it was most common that children would be taken through sewers, underground tunnels, or through the old court house. Once they were out of the Ghetto’s borders, Sendler would give them fake names and papers. She would make lists of the names of the children that she helped to escape, she would put the lists in jars, and then bury them in a garden so that one day she could dig them up and (hopefully) reunite them with their parents, or even just to tell them who they really are. Every day that she would sneak kids out, she ran the risk of getting caught. The danger of smuggling kids out of Ghettos wasn't over once they were in their new homes. If the families that are taking care of the Jewish children were caught by the Nazis, they all could be killed. More than 700 people were killed due to this.

Though, the hardest part of sneaking the kids out of the Ghettos, would be getting the parents to let go of their kids. Parents were reluctant in letting their children go, but they would rather them escape than die inside the Ghetto. In some cases the parents would let go but grandparents would object.

I think that letting the kids go and letting them have a chance at living would be better than staying with their families, waiting to die. And yes, the risk of dying would still be with them if they tried to escape, but the possibility of getting a second chance at life would be more than enough motivation for me. Letting go of my children would be hard, but I don’t think I would be able to live with myself if I robbed them of a second chance that deserved. Although, I understand why the parents wouldn’t want to let the children go, I still think that if they had a chance to save their kids and give them opportunities that they have been denied that you should let them live and be happy.

When she was caught, the Nazis broke both of her legs, her arms, and she was beaten severely. Her coworkers bribed one of the guards holding her captive, and she was in put hiding for most of the rest of her life.

Irena Sendler devoted and risked her life by working to free these kids. When all was said and done, she saved the lives of more than 2,500 kids. Irena Sendler had the courage to do what most of us would never be able to.